About the Winery
Escarpment, defined as a long, steep slope that lies at the end of a plateau, is our unique place within Martinborough. Big open skies stretch across the Wairarapa, and the ancient alluvial soils run deep beneath the land. There is natural balance here. At Escarpment Winery, our purpose is to translate that balance into wines that reflect these special attributes, this special part of Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Over the last 35 years, we have created an expression of Martinborough Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Sculpted by Winemaker Tim Bourne and Viticulturist Rowan Hoskins from fruit entirely originating from Martinborough vineyards on the fabled alluvial gravels. We are focused on creating wines with an identifiable structure, complexity and fruit expression that reflect their distinctive sites and their regional Martinborough accent.
A Unique Sense of Place
Escarpment strives to produce wines that capture a unique sense of place. Our home vineyard on Te Muna Road is situated just minutes east of Martinborough village, with 24 hectares of distinctive alluvial gravel, terraced land stretches out along the banks of the Huangarua River. The soils of the vineyard are alluvial loams that were formed by the Huangarua River over 20,000 years ago. With very deep alluvial gravels now layered over the loams this composition ensures exceptional drainage, one of the key prerequisites for nurturing and producing premium quality, healthy grape vines.
Escarpment names their top Pinot Noirs after the vineyards from which the grapes were grown, rather than the grape variety. The Single Vineyard Kupe, Pahi, Te Rehua and Kiwa demonstrate this philosophy with distinctive elegance and character.
Escarpment sources fruit from our own vineyards as well as from growers around the Martinborough township. We are lucky enough to enjoy long term, established relationships with our growers that is reflected in the quality of our wines.
Meet the Team
Tim Bourne – Senior Winemaker
TIM BOURNE Initially graduating with a BSc, majoring in Geography, Tim spent a few years working and travelling and not knowing what he wanted to do. After returning from an OE in the UK, he fell on his feet with his first vintage in Marlborough and caught the wine bug. He then went back to study a post- graduate diploma in Oenology through EIT in the Hawke’s Bay. Short stints in Central Otago and Waipara, along with a vintage in The Great Southern Region in Western Australia, lead Tim to the Barossa Valley. After working in the Barossa for nearly 7 years, Tim once again returning to Marlborough eventually taking up the opportunity to work with Larry and the fantastic Escarpment wines.
Rowan Hoskins Viticulturist /Site Manager
ROWAN HOSKINS Rowan’s interest in viticulture and wine started at a young age as he grew up in and around vineyards in Martinborough due to his father being Martinborough Vineyards viticulturist at the time. After becoming an electrician in Gisborne then working in Hawke’s Bay and back to the Wairarapa, he decided to take the plunge and follow his passion in the wine industry. Nick Hoskins was starting up Vine Managers at the time, so he decided to take a job in 2006 and work in the vines. This cemented his passion for the industry and led him to complete a level 4 advanced viticulture whilst running Redbank Estate under the guidance of Nick. Rowan went on to manage Cobblestones (which is now our Pahi single vineyard), and Schubert vineyard before managing Escarpment under Vine managers.
